Injured Roger Federer pulls out of final with Novak Djokovic after saying he
is 'not match fit' leaving way for Andy Murray to step up to face Serb in
exhibition game

After a week of low-level muttering about the lack of competitive matches at the O₂ Arena, Sunday night produced a full-on walkover. Roger Federer chose not to take the court for the final against Novak Djokovic because of a back injury, leaving angry fans dubbing the event a “disgrace”.

“This has never happened before in the 45-year history of the ATP,” Chris Kermode, the body’s executive chairman, said after a scramble to source a replacement player led to Andy Murray driving from Surrey to play Djokovic in an exhibition match.

A chaotic and controversial day for tennis also took on a mysterious aspect, as rumours developed of a bust-up between Federer and his Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka – who happened to be Federer’s opponent during a 2hr 48min semi-final on Saturday night.

Wawrinka had complained about the behaviour of Federer's player's box, which included wife Mirka. Certainly the match grew feistier as it went on, not helped by one terrible line call from the chair umpire Cedric Mourier.

TV commentator John McEnroe went so far as to suggest that the tension between the two Swiss could have exacerbated Federer’s back trouble. “There was a long talk between the players that extended late into the night,” McEnroe said. “And the stress of that, I can’t confirm all of this, but a lot of this went on and that caused – I don’t think that helped the situation.”

Wawrinka and Federer used to be on excellent terms, but that was before Wawrinka became a threat. There will no doubt be more speculation about their relationship as they move on to play the Davis Cup final together against France next week in Lille.

Before then, though, ticket-holders for Sunday's showpiece will find out what they can expect in the way of compensation for Federer’s no-show. The lateness of the withdrawal left the organisers with hardly any time to work with, and in the circumstances they could hardly have delivered anything better than Murray against Djokovic, followed by legends doubles involving McEnroe, Tim Henman and Pat Cash.

Yet many fans were understandably furious to have bought tickets for a final and wound up watching a glorified knockabout. Many had come from overseas at great expense, spending well over £100 per seat to witness the season’s finale.

Djokovic received a warm reception as he received the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals trophy for the third successive year – a feat that has not been achieved since Ivan Lendl did it in the Eighties. Murray, meanwhile, was granted a standing ovation by many fans for filling in at the last minute.

However, the sense of disillusionment was palpable in the concourses, particularly among fans who could not understand why they had not been informed of Federer’s withdrawal until 5.30pm.

Federer came out in person to break the news and apologise to the crowd, saying: “I tried everything I could last night and also today – painkillers, treatment, rest and so forth, warm-up till the very end. In finals like this, it would be too risky at my age to do this right now.”

In a separate briefing to the ATP’s own camera team, he clarified that he was suffering from a back spasm that had come on during the tie-break against Wawrinka late on Saturday night, but added: “I’m positive and I’m hopeful that it’s going to go away very soon.”

Kermode later clarified that he had started to worry seriously about the match at around 1pm. But it was not until Federer arrived late at the site, at around 4.30pm, and went into the physio’s room that his unavailability was confirmed.

It takes a very unusual situation to persuade Federer to pull out. In 1,221 previous appearances on the ATP tour, he has never once abandoned a match in mid-flow, and has only quit tournaments twice before when the injuries have been unmanageable. In this case, any thought of playing through the pain barrier must have been cut off by the prospect of his Davis Cup appointment.

“I spoke to him,” Djokovic said, “and it’s a question mark for the Davis Cup final as well.”

The 17,800 fans who attended the O2 Arena on Sunday are to be contacted by organisers within the next 48 hours with news of what compensation they can expect. Kermode said that they would receive booking privileges for next year’s event as well as a partial refund. “We have to give some value to the doubles final that they saw, and the exhibition, which I feel was the best fall-back we could have provided in the circumstances.